John b



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. ARCI-IER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT COLUMBIA.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS.

SPECIFICATICN forming part of Letters Patent No. 501,130, dated July 11,1893.

Application filed June 8, 1892. Serial No. 436,025. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN B. ARCHER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Manufacture ofGras;`

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertainsto make and use the same.

My invention consists in placing in a furnace, the interior of which isdivided into a combustion chamber and a heating chamber on each sidethereof, by means of tiling, a horizontal iixer which is mounted withinthe said furnace near the top thereof and above the converging upperends of the tiling, while horizontal steam super heating pipes areplaced within the re chamber, and horizontal retorts, into which oil isinjected by steam from the said pipes, are contained in the said heatingchambers, the said retorts discharging into the said fixer, whereby thevaporized products of the steam and oil which have been decomposed inthe retorts will be combined to form a fixed gas, and it also consistsin a combination, construction and arrangement of the several parts ofwhich it is composed, as will be hereinafter more fully described andclaimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which corresponding parts aredesignated by similar letters of reference Figure l is a centralvertical transverse section of a gas producer constructed according tothis invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on lines fu o ofFig. l.

The furnace structure yconsists of a base A from which spring theelliptical or curved walls A which form the'sides and top of thestructure, a suitable longitudinal depression being formed in the centerof the base, the said depression being horizontally divided by the gratebars a3 into the ash pit a and the ire or combustion chamber a', thetops of the side walls of the depression being beveled as a6 forming anarrow longitudinal ledge as on top of the base A at the inside of eachside wall A. Front and rear walls AZAB, respectively, are provided,inclosing the front and ,wing-walls@14 which are concentric tohorizontal fixer, to behereinafter described, the said side walls A andtiling A4 forming on Veach side of the structure a heating chamber cl2,each of the said chambers having its upper end communicating with thefire chamber between them, and its lower end with a suitable stack (notshown) by means of the down take 0.13 formed in the base A.

A series of return pipesB is arranged on each side of the fire chamberinclosed by the said tiling, the rear end of the upper pipe of eachseries being connected to a suitable steam supply by the pipe E, theforward ends of the lower pipe of each the said series entering suitableinjectors F located at the forward end of the lower retort of each ofthe series of horizontal retorts C, which are contained in the heatingchambers, either concentric to the walls thereof or the alternateretorts may be placed near the opposite walls, the upper retort of eachseries being placed near the outer walls beyond the ends of the wingwalls, whereby the heated products of combustion arisingfrom thecombustion chamber (where they have heated the steam superheating pipesB) will on their downward passage through the heating chambers cl2 bedeiiected from retort to retort imparting all of their h eat thereto.

Any preferred means of connecting the several retorts of each seriestogether may be used, although I prefer to use return boXesL of thecharacter described in Letters Patent No. 433,926, issued to me on the5th day of August, 1890, which may be built into the end walls of thefurnace, and it will be also obvious that similar return boxes maybeused for connecting together the several superheating pipes of eachseries'.

A horizontal fixer D"is supported above the center of the combustionchamber and between the wing walls upon the upper edges of the tiling,the said fixer having shoulders d formed thereon, which are built intothe y-,wf

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walls A of the structure, the said shoulders in-this way serving as akey-stone of the side walls.

The upper retort C of each of the series of retorts is connected withthe xer, which, in case, it is desired to make different grades of gasin the same producer, is divided into a plurality of compartments by atransverse diaphragm d4, each of the said series of retorts beingconnected with one of the said compartments by means of the pipe D2,while the gas is withdrawn from each compartment by a separate servicepipe I2 which enters the said compartment, it being connected with thedome cl2, which is provided with themovablecover (Z3, by which accessmay be had to the interior of the fixer. An oil pipe I is connected witheach of the said injectors F. It will thus be seen that the steam inpassing through the pipes B will be superheated, and will pass into theinjector with a velocity due to its expansion, and will carry with it aportion of the oil from the pipes I', which oil will be atomized, andwill, in the heated retort C, become converted into a vapor, which willbe mechanically mixed with the superheated steam, together with which itwill enter the highly heated fixer D', where the hydrogen of the steamwill unite with a portion of the carbon of the oil, forming ahydrocarbon gas, which together with the gas formed by the partialdecomposition of the vaporized oil will iiow into the dome d2 from whichthe fixed gas may be withdrawn for the purpose of combustion.

It will be noted that as the superheating pipes are contained in firechamber, directly over the fire, that they may be subjected to anintense heat, thoroughly superheating the steam, and that as the retortsC are contained in the heating chambers and are heated solely by theproducts of combustion which have already imparted a part of theirwarmth to the fixer that the danger of over-heating the retorts and thusforming a deposit of carbon therein is greatly lessened, and that thefixer itself, situated between the wing walls of the tiling is in aposition to be readily raised to a high temperature.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l. The combinationwith a furnace having curved walls and top, of tiling located within thesaid furnace on each side thereof and being concentric to thecorresponding walls, forming a combustion chamber and a heating chamberon each side of the combustion chamberand communicating therewith at thetop; a series of steam superheating pipes located within the saidcombustion chamber on each side thereof and concentric to thecorresponding tiling, a series of horizontal retorts located in each ofthe said heating chambers, an oil supply pipe connected with each of thesaid series of retorts, a horizontal fixer contained within the saidfurnace at the top of the combustion chamber and between the convergingupper ends of the tiling; and downtakes communicating with the lowerends of each of the said heating chambers, the said series of retortshaving their lower ends communicating with the superheating pipes andtheir upper ends communicating with the fixer, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination with a furnace provided with side walls and top, oftiling located within the said structure on each side thereof andconcentric to the corresponding side walls, forming a central combustionchamber and a heating chamber on each side thereof, communicatingtherewith at the top, the tops of the said tiling being bent outwardly,forming wing-walls; a series of steam super-heating pipes located withinthe said combustion chamber on\each side thereof, concentric to thecorresponding tiling; a series of horizontal retorts located in each ofthe said heating chambers; an oil supply pipe connected with each of thesaid series of retorts, the alternate retorts of each series beinglocated upon the opposite sides of the chambers containing them, ahorizontal fixer contained in the said furnace at the top of thecombustion chamber and between the wing-Walls upon the said tiling, anddowntakes com lnunicating with the lower ends of the said heatingchambers, each of the said series of rctorts having their opposite endscommunicating with the said superheating pipes and fixer, respectively,substantially as described.

3. The combination with a furnace, of tiling located within the saidstructure on each side thereof and having converging upper ends, forminga central combustion chamber and a heating chamber on each side thereof,communicating therewith at the top, the tops of the said tiling beingbent outwardly, forming wing walls; a series of steam superheating pipeslocated within the said combustion chamber on each side thereof,concentric to the corresponding tiling, a series of horizontal retortslocated in each of the said combustion chambers; an oil supply pipeconnected with the said retorts, a horizontal fixer contained in thesaid furnace at the top of the combustion chamber and between the wingwalls upon the tiling, and downtakes communicating with the lower endsof the said heating chambers, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a furnace having arched side walls and top, of ahorizontal fixer having shoulders thereon built into and forming the.key of the said arched walls; steam superheating pipes and retortscontained in the said furnace, the said superheating pipes beingconnected to one end of the retorts, and the opposite end of the saidretorts being connected with the said fixer, and an oil supply pipeconnected with the said retorts, substantially as described.

5. The combination in a furnace of two series of superheating pipes andretorts con- IOO IZO

tained therein, each of the said series of superleading from each of thecompartments of the Io heating pipes being connected With the corxer,substantially as described.

responding series of retorts, a fixer contained In testimony whereof Iaffix my signature in in the said furnace and having its interiorpresence of two Witnesses.

divided into two compartments by a diaphragm, each of 4whichcompartments is con- 4JOI-IN B. ARCHER. nected with one of said seriesof retorts, an Witnesses: oil supply pipe connected with each of the H.M. SOHOONMAKER,

said series of retorts, and an eductionpipe H. D. BURGESS.

